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The St Petersburg City Court has sentenced those accused in the case of the youth movement “Vesna” to the following prison terms:
- Anna Arkhipova, an activist from Novosibirsk—12 years in a general regime colony;
- Yan Ksenzhepolsky, an activist from Tver—11 years in a colony;
- Vasily Neustroev, a member of the St Petersburg Yabloko party, who was not part of Vesna—10 years in a colony;
- Pavel Sinelnikov, an activist from Barnaul, a major city in Siberia—seven and a half years in a colony;
- Evgeny Zateyev and Valentin Khoroshenin, activists from St Petersburg—six years and two months each.
The decision was reported by Mediazona.
Neustroev’s defence lawyer Yulia Kuznetsova told OVD-Info that the trial was riddled with violations. Judge Irina Furmanova did not really allow questions to be put to witnesses, experts, or the accused, and rejected motions from the lawyers.
“A fair trial is impossible where people are prosecuted for words on the internet, for disagreeing with the president’s policies, and for freely expressing their opinions,” said the lawyer.
The most serious charges were brought against Arkhipova—under seven separate articles of the Criminal Code:
- organisation of, and participation in, an extremist group (Articles 282.1 Parts 1 and 2);
- participation in the activities of a public association infringing on citizens’ rights (Article 239 Part 3);
- incitement to mass unrest (Article 212 Part 1.1);
- calls for activity against the security of the state (Article 280.4 Part 3);
- dissemination of “fake news” about the army (Article 207.3 Part 2, sections “b” and “d”);
- dissemination of disrespectful information about Days of Military Glory (Article 354.1 Part 4).
Neustroev and Ksenzhepolsky were charged under the same articles, except for participation in an extremist group. Under the article relating to associations infringing on citizens’ rights, they were accused of founding such a group (Article 239 Part 2), not just participating in it.
Zateyev and Khoroshenin, both activists from St Petersburg, were also accused of creating such an association. They faced two further charges: organisation of an extremist group and dissemination of disrespectful information about Days of Military Glory. The charge of creating an association infringing on citizens’ rights was later dropped against Khoroshenin, due to the statute of limitations expiring. The case against Zateyev and Khoroshenin began in May 2022, while the others were detained in June 2023.
Sinelnikov was accused on only two counts: organising an extremist group, and participating in it.
The prosecution is mainly based on posts published on Vesna’s social media pages. For instance, activists were charged with incitement to riot on the grounds of their calls to participate in anti-war protests.
Five out of the six accused deny their guilt. Khoroshenin admitted guilt and gave evidence against the other activists. Zateyev initially gave a confession, but later withdrew it in court. He said that he had implicated himself in the hope he would be placed under house arrest so that he could be near his mother and grandmother. Both women died during his time in pre-trial detention.
OVD-Info has published the story of Vasily Neustroev, who was not an activist with Vesna and had no connection to the movement’s social media. Nonetheless, law enforcement claims he was one of the leaders of the movement and that he posted calls to rioting and anti-state activities on its social media, published military “fake news,” and insulted the “memory of the defenders of the Fatherland.”
OVD-Info is supporting three defendants in the Vesna case: Anna Arkhipova, Vasily Neustroev, and Yan Ksenzhepolsky. Please support fundraising for their lawyers’ work in court.
You can also support those charged in the Vesna case by sending them a letter via our “Vestočka” service.
- The Vesna youth movement was founded in 2013 by activists in St Petersburg. Activists from various other regions across Russia soon joined them. Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Vesna has encouraged Russians to protest against the war, and later the movement announced campaigns against mobilisation. In December 2022, under order from the prosecutor’s office, Vesna was recognised as an extremist organisation.